Robinhood’s Fierce Rebuttal: SEC’s ‘Dazed and Confused’ Approach to Crypto Exposed

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Hassan, a Cryptonews.com journalist with 6+ years of experience in Web3 journalism, brings deep knowledge across Crypto, Web3 Gaming, NFTs, and Play-to-Earn sectors. His work has appeared in...

In a bold testimony before the U.S. House Financial Services Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Daniel M. Gallagher, the Chief Legal Officer of Robinhood and a former commissioner of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), criticized the regulatory agency’s approach to crypto regulation.

Gallagher accused the SEC of mishandling its regulatory responsibilities, particularly regarding digital assets, and pointed out how Robinhood’s efforts to comply with the rules were met with silence and threats of enforcement.

According to Gallagher, Robinhood engaged with the SEC over a dozen times in meetings and calls spanning 18 months. The goal was simple: to clarify how to register its cryptocurrency offerings under SEC guidelines.

However, despite these efforts, the SEC’s staff remained largely non-responsive, offering little to no feedback that could help Robinhood understand how to move forward.

This prolonged period of uncertainty culminated in the SEC issuing a Wells Notice to Robinhood, signaling a potential enforcement action.

The Wells Notice, Gallagher said, was a major blow to Robinhood, considering the company’s repeated attempts to engage with the SEC in good faith.

Rather than providing guidance, the SEC chose to threaten legal action, which left Robinhood—and many other crypto companies—operating in fear of future lawsuits rather than with the certainty of clear regulations.

Fox News journalist Eleanor Terrett tweeted about Gallagher’s testimony.